Hie! This is Naoko from Broken Shield and Sword. You’d probably have seen me posting comments in this blog and Pelf’s other blog, pelf-ism is contagious! I’m here as a Guest on The Giving Hands to raise awareness about what you can do for the environment as well as my own views/personal experience regarding this matter.

A few years ago, back in college, I finally complete a series I’d started in high school. It was a fantasy series quite like your normal, average fantasy except that it was written with wit and a good dose of humour, something every book should have. One of the wry jokes from the series dealt with the way sea ports always smell; many years later I have to agree with that first assessment.

Even if you stop by the smaller jetties like the one to Pulau Kapas, (or Cotton Island), there’s a very strong smell of diesel. You can see rubbish floating and a very thin layer of oil on the water’s surface. Things are different from the island itself, but I’ve seen plastic bags floating in the sea and it scares me that sea creatures may get caught in it.

The solution proposed by the book is an old one, but it’s one that bears much thought. The Melcene citizens from David and Leigh Eddings’ series, The Mallorean, made each citizen who had been caught littering spend three days out at sea to collect and clean the sea by collecting rubbish and other such errands. It was a very pungent and learning experience for all those involved. I wonder why don’t we have something like that in our country? After all, considering the amount of litterbugs we have, this would be, I think, one of the most effective ways to curb littering. Consider:

1. If they litter on land, instead of being fined, they will be forced to pick up trash for the next few days. This will have the effect (hopefully) of them being shamed enough to stop littering.
2. In this day of the Internet (yes, my grammar’s all over the place I know), we’ll post a video of them up on YouTube for posterity.
3. The relevant town councils get free labour (I’d prefer if this went to another department as I don’t trust the town council).
4. People will be less inclined to litter.

The other effort is taken from a website. Or rather its example. But I’ll leave that for another day.

Seeking Inspiration from Random Places
Naoko